Team India feel multiple quarantines will affect series against England
Amidst controversies and conversations about the fourth and final Test scheduled in Brisbane between India and Australia, the rise of the new UK strain of Covid-19 in Brisbane adds to India's worries.
Alongside medical concerns, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has also stated that multiple quarantines could impact travel plans and hamper the schedule for the home series against England.
There are no imposed restrictions on air-travel from Australia to India. But a change in rules owing to rising cases of the UK-Strain of Covid-19 in Brisbane has left the BCCI concerned.
India originally scheduled to fly back on January 19
Currently, all travellers from the UK to India have to undergo a mandatory 1-week institutional quarantine and an additional week of home quarantine. India are scheduled to fly out of Australia on January 19, and the series against England begins on February 5.
The Indian team management has displayed reluctance to travel to Brisbane multiple times owing of the hard quarantine protocols. To make matters worse, Brisbane has been put under a 3-day hard lockdown, and the BCCI worries that the same might extend and continue.
Severe bubble restrictions a major concern for
Another reason for team India's concern is the likelihood that the team would be placed under severe quarantine restrictions during the course of the Test in Brisbane. If things continue the same way, team India would be compelled to stay in their hotel rooms and move out only for training sessions and the final Test match.
Earlier in January, BCCI informed Cricket Australia that they would not agree to players' movement being restricted to team hotels.
"We aren't keen on going to Brisbane if it means being stuck in the hotel again, except for going to the ground. Instead we don't mind being in some other city, playing both Test matches there to complete the series and returning home," a BCCI official had told Cricbuzz
It has also been reported that Cricket Australia has booked hotels exclusively for the teams in both Sydney and Brisbane. The Australian board, in its reply to BCCI has in reply pointed out that the teams are free to roam around within the hotel premises in selected areas.
Cricket Australia will face diffuculty in finding an alternate venue for the final Test - considering most grounds across the country are booked for the ongoing Big Bash League.